Posset Pot

CultureEnglish
Titles
  • Posset Pot
Datec. 1680–1700
Made inLondon, England
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
Dimensions4 7/8 × 5 1/4 in. diameter (12.4 × 13.3 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.50.4
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Queen Anne Bedroom
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Delftware is a variety of earthenware with tin oxide added to its lead glaze formula to give an opaque white effect that was often used to imitate, or at least suggest, the appearance of Chinese porcelain. First produced in England in the late 1500s, delftware grew in popularity in the 1600s as potteries flourished in London, Bristol, and elsewhere in the British Isles. Metallic oxides provided a range of colors for decoration: cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, iron for red, copper for green, and antimony for yellow. Delftware was relatively soft and chipped easily. By the mid-1700s, more durable soft-paste porcelains and salt-glazed stonewares grew in popularity; by the early 1800s, delftware production in England had declined dramatically.

Posset was a hot drink of milk or cream, eggs, wine or ale, sugar, and spices. Now all but forgotten, this relative of custard and eggnog was popular in the 1600s and 1700s, sometimes shared as part of celebrations, and sometimes taken as a remedy. The posset pot allowed one to drink the liquid by sucking it through the spout.


Provenance[Ginsburg & Levy, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, October 23, 1950; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Exhibition History

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Posset Pot
Pickleherring Pottery
c. 1628–1635
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.59.128.A,.B
Posset Pot with Cover
c. 1720–1740
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.69.A,.B
Ointment Pot
c. 1700–1750
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.59.134
Set of six Merryman Plates
c. 1680–1700
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.59.27.1-.6
Fuddling Cup
c. 1680–1700
Tin-glazed earthenware (faience or delftware)
B.59.91
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1760
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.100.1
Punch Bowl
1687
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.59.92
scan of file photograph
1780s
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware) with wood
B.53.3.1
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1765
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.42.2
Punch Bowl
1758
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.7
scan of file photograph
c. 1740
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.8
Dish
c. 1740
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.69.175